Dzamara's family hires a private investigator

The family of missing human rights activist Itai Dzamara said on Friday they would hire a private investigator to look for him as they have lost trust in the Zimbabwean police.

Dzamara, a father of two, was abducted by six men from a barber's shop in the Glenview suburb of Harare on March 9 and has not been since then.

In an exclusive interview with News24 in Harare on Friday, the family's spokesperson, Itai's young brother Dr Patson Dzamara, said the police are doing nothing to find his brother.

'We have completely lost trust in police'

He said the family suspected the state was responsible for his disappearance and that they were now in discussion with civic society organisations to help fund a private investigation.

He said the family remained confident that Itai was alive and would be home with his two young children soon.

This week an official from the ruling Zanu-PF claimed the MDC was responsible for Dzamara's disappearance, adding that the activist was somewhere "enjoying life".

Zanu-PF's Masvingo provincial chairperson, Paradzai Chakona, told journalists that the MDC was holding Dzamara in a bid to drum up financial support from the West. The MDC dismissed the claim.